Here's how some Team Fremont Adventure Recreation members answered various questions about the upcoming Rocky Mountain EPIC Relay.

What are you most worried about during the race?

Jennifer VanIwarden: "The heat is always a challenge. Also being an all-female team this year many of us are taking on more miles. That's going to be interesting."

Jandi Reddick: "How my husband is doing with our boys and will they be in Crested Butte when we finish?"

Emily Phillips: "I'm no spring chicken, so if had to pick one worry it would be to not get injured. I have battled a knee injury but altered my training to include cross fit and I now feel much stronger. (Shout out to CCCFIT!)"

Marcy Epperson: "I always worry that I won't run well enough for the team. I'm considered an older runner, and I am getting a little bit slower each year. Still having fun, but worried I won't make my pace for each leg. I think I'm the oldest one on the team."

Toni Pierce: "I am most worried about running in the middle of the night with bears and being a big wimp by making the van not get more than 50 feet ahead of me!"

Laura McIntyre: "The training/prep! I had a trip planned to Thailand before I thought about my training plan for the race. I return a week before the race but have had to try and train here in Thailand for three weeks. It has been brutal; I have had to get up at 6 a.m. if I want to avoid profusely sweating (and I mean losing 5 pounds at least just in sweat) and even then I am soaking in sweat when I'm done. ... And, of course, the lack of toilets during the relay is always a concern for me when we are running for 24 hours."

Jennifer VanIwarden: "Good question. Because we are crazy. We get a kick out of sleep deprivation and pushing our bodies to our limits. Who wouldn't want to do that?"

Jandi Reddick: "I am excited to run this race it has always been on my bucket list! It is such an amazing feeling to run, especially when you finish your race and to do this race with 11 other great runners will be awesome."

Marcy Epperson: "I think I've been running the relay race for at least 10 years. I don't want to lose my streak. It's about running with friends and being there for the team. I never want to let them down! We have such a strong group of runners in our community, and I am honored to be a part of it."

— Brandon Hopper

They almost call their own bluff on this. The whole, "We're just in it for fun," mantra they're trying to push is a stretch for 12 competitive women.

The Team Fremont Adventure Recreation doesn't fit the "girls just wanna have fun" mold.

This year's EPIC Rocky Mountain Relay will begin Friday morning at Centennial Park, where teams will begin their 191-mile trek to Crested Butte. This year's change, instead of Team FAR being filled with six men and six women, it'll be a 12-woman team.

That will mean bigger challenges for the women. In past year's, the top couple of runners who ran the most miles were men, but this year, it'll be the top women runners for Team FAR taking on the biggest legs.

"We've always done the relay in hopes of winning or focusing on a time, doing it competitively," runner Jennifer VanIwarden said. "This year, we're really wanting to go out, let's have fun together and let's enjoy."

In 2011, Team FAR won first place overall. In the previous three years, the team has placed first in its division. It was third overall in 2012 and 2014. In 2013, the team took fourth overall.

"We're trying (to focus on fun). We're trying," VanIwarden said in her next breath with a laugh. "It's going to be difficult this year not to be the fastest team. Of course, the ones who are runners on the team are going to be running hard and doing the best they can and trying to get us into a good place, but we're going to try to let it go this year and just enjoy it and have fun and support one another and let it be a fun girl trip."

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